Sims is among the growing, but still minute, percentage of male elementary school teachers. Nationwide, between 10 and 20 percent of elementary school teachers are men. In Clarke County, that figure is closer to 4 percent - 21 teachers out of more than 400 in 13 elementary schools, said district Personnel Director Shirley Jaeger.

``Things are slowly changing, but the caring for young children has traditionally not been seen as a male role,'' Jaeger noted. ``For the same traditional reasons, you have more men in the middle and high schools because they are coaching opportunities there that you don't have in the lower grades.''

Sims, a fifth-grade teacher at Barrow Elementary School for 26 years and an Athens-Clarke County commissioner since 1993, said he was the only male elementary teacher in Clarke County when he began his career in 1974.

``Men have always felt the need to make a livelihood for their families and that can be hard as an educator. But I've always wanted to have my finger on the pulse of the children that will shape our society, and take care of me when I'm older,'' he said.

``I've gotten used to it being me and the ladies. You're definitely noticed more than the other teachers ... They can all kind of look alike in the children's eyes.''

Fourth Street Elementary School art teacher David Harvell works with his students while a TBS Superstation cameraman films the action. Harvell is one of nine Georgia teachers named Super Teachers by Turner Broadcasting.Rebecca Breyer/Staff

A man teaching in an elementary school sticks out for obvious reasons, Sims and other teachers said. The students - and their parents - need a little time to get used to male teachers, they said.

``Elementary teachers play a nurturing role, and that traditionally has gone to women,'' said Emmett Dupree, a kindergarten teacher at Fowler Drive Elementary School for almost 24 years.

``Parents want to get to know who you are, what makes you tick, in different ways. It's not a lack of trust, but just unfamiliarity.''

In a society and county where more and more children grow up in single-parent homes without a father figure, the role of the male elementary teacher goes beyond that of just educator. It's a responsibility the men take on willingly, they said.

``It's important at any age, but especially with the young, that they have men they can look up to,'' said David Harvell, a former Foundation of Excellence in Public Education in Clarke County winner who teaches art at Fourth Street Elementary School.

The privately-funded local award is given to about a dozen teachers annually.

``It's neat for kids to see they have a variety of choices in what they can do, and not get locked into stereotypes,'' he said.

Harvell recently was named one of nine Super Teachers in Georgia by Turner Broadcasting. The company filmed his classroom in action Friday to produce a commercial in his honor to run during morning cartoons.

``Being a man in a primarily female field just isn't an issue with me. I just try to stay current and do what's best for every student,'' he said.

Other male teachers agreed the job doesn't have anything to do with gender.

``If the children know you genuinely care about them, it doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman,'' Sims said.

Apparently it doesn't matter to their peers, either. In the faculty lounges and before and after school, teachers often speak of, in Sims' words, ``female-type things'' whether there are men around or not.

``They'll look at me and say, `Oh, that's just Harry,' and keep talking. You take it with a grain of salt,'' Sims said.

Paul Thiel, a first-year, second-grade teacher at Cleveland Road Elementary School, said he thought about becoming a teacher while an elementary school student himself. His mom is a 41-year teaching veteran in Oglethorpe County.

He said he only notices the lack of other men in staff meetings, where, except for a school counselor, he's surrounded by women.

Of his peers, he said, ``It's like I have a bunch of moms sometimes. I rely on all of them as resources.''

Alps Road Elementary School is the only school in Clarke County without at least one male teacher. Principal Sherrie Gibney-Sherman said she ``desperately wants'' some male representation, but her staff has been stable the past few years and she ``would never hire a man just because he's a man.''

``It's incredibly important to have all types of people in the building, not just related to gender, but all backgrounds and nationalities,'' she said. ``Children need all different people to interact with because they're all different, too.''

Gibney-Sherman has dozens of male mentors and homework-help volunteers that help fill that void, she said.

``A lot of the kids in this building don't have male role models in their lives and need to learn how to relate properly with men. Some might have had only negative experiences with men and that needs to be overcome,'' she said.

Sims has worked Barrow's morning bus dropoff duty for years simply because the children ``deserve to see a smiling face when they get here, and to feel happy and safe and learn in the process.''

``It's not because I'm a man, just because I care about our students,'' he said.